John Hagee: “Jesus refused to be the Messiah”

John Hagee the Zionist is at it again, promoting yet another sure money-making book, In Defense of Israel. In this promotional video, he states the following heresies:

This book will expose the sins of the fathers and the vicious abuse of the Jew[s]… will shake Christian theology… [T]he Jewish people as a whole did not reject Jesus as Messiah… Jesus did not come to earth to be the Messiah… Since Jesus refused… to claim to be the Messiah, how can the Jews be blamed for rejecting what was never offered?

He’s right, this latest nonsense will “shake Christian theology” and sink many Christians into his heretical quicksand. Why do we even call Jesus the “Christ,” or christos in Greek, or mashiach, “the anointed one,” in Hebrew? A cursory reading of Scriptures will reveal that Jesus himself claimed to be the Old Testament Messiah (Matthew 16:16-17; Luke 24:25-26; John 4:25-26). What about John 20:30-31? And was Peter guilty of abusing the Jewish people when he accused them of killing Jesus (Acts 2:23, 36)?

The Jewish people as a whole did not reject Jesus? I wonder how Hagee interprets Jesus’ prophecy about God’s rejection of Israel and ingrafting of Gentile believers in Matthew 21:43? And what does he think of Jesus’ seven “woes” on Israel and his prophecy, “See, your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:37-38)? Aren’t these because of Jewish unbelief? Is God unjust in destroying Israel in 70 A.D. because a handful of Jewish leaders â€“ out of a whole nation â€“ rejected the Son of God?

In response to criticisms regarding these statements, Hagee offers some elaborations, which The Expositor publishes in full. He explains himself more, exposing his heretical views even more (heresies beget heresies):

To be Messiah you must live. To rule and reign you must live. Jesus came to die and be the Savior of every person on earth… Again, you must live to be Messiah. You cannot be both Messiah and Savior! … Jesus claimed to be Savior several times in the Bible. He never claimed to be Messiah to the Jewish people (emphasis mine).

What if this Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried; descended into hell; rose from the grave on the third day; ascended into heaven; sits at the right hand of God the Father; and reigns now and forever? Is that sufficient to qualify him as Savior and Messiah?

At first glance, this is all insane. But it isn’t. Hagee is one of those lying antichrists deliberately cooking up a Texas gumbo of controversial politics and bad theology—all for itching ears, and for service to the mammon-God. A “lying antichrist” is what John calls false teachers like Hagee:

“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22).

So, to Hagee followers or others who are deceived by false dispensational teachings: Caveat emptor, compare his teachings with John’s definition of a liar and an antichrist.

For more of Hagee’s wacky Zionism, see my earlier post about his views on Israel and the Jewish temple. Christian Courier also has a more in-depth review of Hagee’s latest errors (to say the least).

When I read about the sins of pastors, such as those of Hagee, Bakker, Swargart and even our own home town pastors, it humbly reminds me that they are just men and fall into sin like the rest of us. So follow no man..Follow Jesus Christ alone.